ROCKFORD — The city of Rockford announced today that it is safe for residents to stop letting faucets drip to keep pipes from freezing.

Even after temperatures started to rise this spring, the ground had not thawed enough to alleviate concerns about frozen pipes. A harsh winter froze the ground far below its normal depth of 3 feet and city officials had continued to encourage residents to leave a slow drip of water.

“Having residents run their water saved the city many thousands of dollars in repairs,” said Water Superintendent Tim Holdeman in a news release.

The prolonged cold spell froze more than 240 water service lines across the city.

Roughly 70 percent of frozen pipes occurred in two areas of the city, a northwest neighborhood around Ridge Avenue and southeast Rockford area near Harrison Avenue. Telephone messages were sent out to residents in those areas to encourage them to run their water to reduce the risk of freezing.

The city will refund residents that ran their water over the winter to keep their pipes from freezing. You must call the city at 815-987-5700 to start the process to earn a credit on your water bill.

“Our monthly water meter records will allow us to determine how much water a customer used and if that amount is above normal,” Holdeman said. “A credit will be given for water usage that is above normal.”

Public Works Director Tim Hanson said that work has started to restore landscape and replace sidewalk at locations where water repairs were made. He said it will take several months to repair all the damage done over the winter.